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The Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships tagged posts

The theme for WHO World Health Day on April 7 is “Depression: Let’s Talk.” CFYM is celebrating the event with a post from the archive by Farha Abbasi, M.D., that looks at the role of faith in supporting the mental health issues associated with the trauma of immigration.

Imagine being alone in a new country — unable to speak the language, surrounded by an unfamiliar culture, and forced to leave your entire life behind. This is the reality for many immigrants around the world.

Imagine being alone in a new country — unable to speak the language, surrounded by an unfamiliar culture, and forced to leave your entire life behind. This is the reality for many immigrants around the world.

In the year 2000, I left Pakistan to come to the U.S. Although I immigrated willingly to pursue a career in medicine, the experience was painful and frightening nonetheless.

As I embarked on my subsequent career as a psychiatrist and professor, I came to realize I was not alone in my experience. Immigration, even when it’s by choice, can cause serious trauma, and for many it becomes a significant risk factor for mental health concerns. In addition, faith — a powerful force for many immigrants — is often overlooked or ignored by care providers.

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We know that when young people are in distress they commonly turn to friends for help and support. We decided to try to figure out how to use this idea more effectively.

The background
Central to JED’s work is our Comprehensive Approach, which includes (1) taking actions to identify those in a community who may be at risk and (2) supporting efforts to increase help-seeking among those in distress. We continuously seek to educate young people about mental health problems as well as how they can respond effectively to these problems when either they or a friend experience them. We needed answers to these questions: